Name

The monster does not possess an official consistent name, however members of the film's crew, including Neville Page himself on concept art for the creature, and many fans have taken to calling it Clover, a shortening of the film's title, Cloverfield. In the film, the creature is designated by the United States Department of Defense as LSA, an acronym meaning Large Scale Aggressor. In Japan, the creature is sometimes referred to as Hakaisha (ハカイシャ), which comes from the Japanese word for "destroyer" (破壊者, Hakaisha) and appears in the film's Japanese title, Cloverfield/HAKAISHA.

Design

Clover is a quadrupedal sea monster with a long, forked tail. Its slender, triple-jointed front legs are longer than its hind legs, ending in multi-fingered hands which can bend backward, allowing the creature to knuckle-walk. Its hind legs are double-jointed. Clover's skin is light grey with darker speckles. Two "external esophagi," which end in tooth-like projections, extend from the monster's lower chest. Its head has sharp, bony features, two eyes with massive black pupils, and a pair of membranous sacks on the sides, which can inflate and recede back into the head.

Origins

In Cloverfield, the monster's origins are left ambiguous, although several theories are provided. Hudson Platt speculates that the monster could either be of extraterrestrial descent, or an earthly creature which lay dormant deep underwater, comparing it to the Coelacanth which was presumed extinct for over 80 million years before it was rediscovered in the 20th century.[2] Preliminary details from the attack on Tagruato's Chuai drilling platform indicate that Clover may have been originally discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, and other theories suggest that the parasites which Clover collected on its body may have provoked it into its emergence from the water.[2] The online ARG which was created to market Cloverfield in the months leading up to its release reveals, through several hints, that the monster is indeed a deep sea creature which was awoken by submarines,[3] and special features from the Blu-ray release of the film further reveal that the creature was intended to be a juvenile by the filmmakers.[1]

In The Cloverfield Paradox, Professor Mark Stambler theorizes that a successful test of the Shepard particle accelerator could unleash creatures from other dimensions on Earth. This is seemingly corroborated by the appearance of Clover, or another member of its species, at the end of the film.

History

Clover suddenly appeared out of the sea and came ashore in Manhattan, rampaging through the city and causing major devastation. The military attempted to battle the monster, but its weapons were ineffective and only enraged the creature further. The monster was injured by stealth bombers but wasn’t killed. After many attempts on Clover’s life, the military ordered a last-resort airstrike on the city codenamed the "Hammerdown Protocol."

Several monsters were inadvertently transported to an alternate Earth by the Shepard Particle Accelerator and began to wreak havoc across the globe. Clover, or another member of its species, appeared as the escape pod containing astronauts Hamilton and Schmidt fell to Earth. Its head and upper body erupted through a patch of clouds, as it lets out several loud roars.

Abilities

Physical Abilities

Clover possesses immense physical strength, able to wipe out several landmarks with ease, including ripping the head of the Statue of Liberty off and throwing it like a baseball. Clover's tail was shown to be strong enough to decimate the Brooklyn Bridge, which was later forced to be fortified to withstand 49,200 tons of pressure, suggesting that his tail exerts forces far greater.[2] At one point, Clover manages to achieve a leaping height of approximately 560 feet.[2]

Durability

Clover seems to be virtually invulnerable to conventional weaponry, withstanding shells from M1 tanks, AT-4 rockets, F-18 Hornets, a bombing run from a B-2 Spirit, and other high-powered ordnance. The creature was, however, possibly defeated by a last resort airstrike which leveled much of New York, codenamed the Hammerdown Protocol.

In Cloverfield/KISHIN, Clover lost its left eye to a direct hit from an anti-tank rocket, but was otherwise unaffected by the JSDF's weapons.

Comics

Clover surfaces and attacks a Tagruato ship near Japan and then heads into Tokyo, causing widespread destruction. The monster was searching for an electromagnetic wave-emitting pod—dubbed the "Remnant of God" by the Repose of the Earth religious cult which worshiped and expected the monster's arrival—that had been taken to be studied by the company Tagruato. The pod had been secretly harbored inside the body of the high school student Kishin Aiba, whose father, a scientist who formerly worked for Tagruato, had determined it was impossible to remove from without causing his death. Following both the revelation to Kishin that his mother had been a member of the cult (which had kidnapped and tried to kill him for the pod moments ago before being rescued by his father) and had used him as a vessel to carry the pod, and Mr. Aiba blowing himself up in his son's vicinity in attempt to kill both of them to "save the world" from the power of the pod, Kishin had an emotional breakdown and became able to control Clover and its parasites. After mounting the monster and going to the school, he tried to kill his bullies, but was ultimately snapped out of it by his classmate Aiko Sasahara. Subsequently, both the parasites and Clover were out of his control.

After using himself as a decoy to allow his classmates to escape, Kishin encountered Clover again. He sacrificed himself to the monster, who extracted the pod inside his body and experienced Kishin's emotions and memories. Clover regains awareness after his left eye is damaged, and returns to the sea, where it begins undergoing a grotesque transformation. Kishin appears in the surface of the ocean afterward, where he's rescued and reunites with his classmates.

Gallery

Roar

Clover's roars

In Other Languages

Japanese: クローバー (Kurōbā)

Trivia

J.J. Abrams stated that Clover was killed by the Hammerdown Protocol in a 2008 Rolling Stone interview.[4] However, he later stated that the monster seen at the end of The Cloverfield Paradox was "the same creature" from Cloverfield.[5] Whether he meant it was the exact same individual or another member of the same species is unclear.

Clover's skull makes a brief appearance in Pacific Rim Uprising, during the scene where Hermann Gottlieb examines PPDC records in search of a match for the image Mako Mori transmitted.

Notes

↑While a notation in the 'Investigation Mode' special feature on the Cloverfield Blu-ray states Clover's height to be estimated somewhere between 240 and 300 feet in his quadruped pose, he is referred to as both "a 30 story monster" (about 300 feet) and "a gigantic, 350 foot monster" during the 'I Saw It! It's Alive! It's Huge!' special feature.

References

This is a list of references for Clover. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

also wasn't cloverfield fast? isn't he/she faster then kamata-kun but just slower then Godzilla (1998) ? isn't he/she one of the weakest kaiju's (just stronger then zilla (final wars)) will JJ abrams ever make another Cloverfield movie like the original mix with something like.... gojira. if someone can awnser these ill be so happy

They were plenty of alternate endings on the Cloverfield DVD/Blu-ray, none of which provided any clarity on the matter. All we have is Abrams' word, which he changed after The Cloverfield Paradox came out.

For one, I agree with you on that part of the none involvement that J.J Abrams had in the manga. But there could be even more clovers in this universe than the two we just have seen so far.If you pay attention in the scene of the destroyed city skyline you can make out a shadow moving among the flames in The cloverfield Paradox.In the movie you also realize at the end that there are MANY, and i mean MANY more monsters on the earth.

Well, yes. Michael clearly says "those things," in reference to the destruction of Earth. There are strong connotations that there are multiple on Earth, including the scene you mentioned, where a silhouette of the monster can be seen moving away from the site of the ravaged hospital. But, that still doesn't mean the manga adaptation has anything to do with this.

Also, from now on, please use the "Reply" button below comments to reply to them, rather than posting an entirely new comment above it.

Well, for one thing, J.J. Abrams had nothing to do with the manga. But also, I highly doubt that the manga shares any continuity with the films themselves. Most if not all manga for monster films are just adaptations, rather than prequels or continuations. It is highly probable that the appearance of the second Clover is directly related to the particle accelerator tests.

Yeah, and there may even be multiple. At the end of the film, Michael says "those things" when referring to Earth and what is on it, just before Clover appears. Not to mention, you can very clearly make out a silhouette of Clover already on Earth during the scene where Michael finds Molly and the ravaged hospital.

Yeah, it’s kind of a prequel, but more of a spin-off. It delves more into the origins and biology of the monster, and revolves around two teenagers. It’s connected to some of the events mentioned in the viral marketing campaign for the film.